Teen Talent Contest Is This Weekend

The preliminary round of the Third Annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition will be held Feb. 9-10 in St. Louis. Over 160 acts are scheduled to perform. They include a ventriloquist, comedian, a diabolist and several bands.

The final competition will be held Friday, April 12, at the Fabulous Fox. The event is free to audience members.

The Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation (FPACF) first produced this competition in 2011 to showcase the St. Louis region’s most talented teens in the performing arts, singers, dancers, actors, musicians, comedians and circus act performers compete as soloists or in groups of as many as six.

The number of entries increased over 30 percent this year and include an even wider variety of acts. The competition process, filmed by Miano.tv, will be available on SchoolTube.com.

Judges for the preliminary round will include a cross section of professionals from the St. Louis performing arts community.

The two days of preliminary competition will be held at three locations — Lindenwood-Belleville, St. Louis Community College-Forest Park and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In the end, the field will be narrowed to approximately 36 acts, which will compete in the semifinal round March 2, where 10-12 acts will be chosen to compete in the finals at The Fox.

A total of $15,000 in scholarships will go to the top three finalists. Additional scholarships and prizes include: $1,000 from UMSL to first place; scholarships from Lindenwood and Missouri Baptist for all participants; scholarships from Webster and SEMO to all finalists; and an additional $7,5000 in special prizes will be awarded to contestants.

Both The Muny and STAGES will offer one student the opportunity to participate in a 2013 production.